Bioinformatics Seminar
Time: 11AM
Venue: L7W Seminar room and Online
29 October 2024
This is a WEHI only event.Analytical methods for ecDNAs in Cancer
Jennifer UretaWEHI Bioinformatics
The amplification of oncogenes is one of the most typical alterations found in cancer. Through the overexpression of oncogenes and functional elements, it provides cancer cells with selective growth advantages that contribute to tumour proliferation and survival. Although oncogene amplification is known to play a significant role in cancer development, we still do not have a complete understanding of the mechanisms responsible for it. Some genome amplifications can arise from double-strand breaks caused by mechanisms such as breakage fusion-bridge cycles and chromothripsis. The production of circular, centromere-less extrachromosomal DNA which unevenly segregates into their daughter cells and proliferates under selective conditions, can also lead to gene amplification. Studying the circularization of linear chromosomal DNA can help us better understand the mechanisms behind gene amplifications. This research will characterise ecDNA and other high level focal amplifications in cancers, including prostate cancer and rare cancers, and develop a method to classify ecDNA that overcomes some of the shortcomings of existing ecDNA classifiers such as those caused by the use of short-read sequencing, while making use of the other structural and mechanistic features of ecDNA.